Abstract

When rather high-power polarized radiation (pump) propagates in an isotropic medium, an induced anisotropy may arise due to the nonlinear character of the interaction. This anisotropy can significantly affect the polarization of the probe field as well as its intensity. The cited effect lies in the basis of nonlinear polarization spectroscopy(NPS) and optically heterodyned polarization spectroscopy(OHPS). Usually the pump beam has linear or circular polarization and the probe one is linearly polarized. More general case occurs when pumping has elliptical polarization. In this paper we show how additional "degree of freedom"(pump ellipticity) of such a type of excitation can be advantageously applied to the investigation of initially isotropic substances.

© 1993 Optical Society of America